SPOILERS: JUSTICE LEAGUE - Which Superman Scenes Were Snyder's And Whedon's, And What Was His Original Role?

Justice League was messy, something which can probably be blamed on reshoots. The question is, which scenes were shot by Zack Snyder, which did Joss Whedon add, and what was Superman's role supposed to be?

By JoshWilding - Nov 20, 2017 11:11 AM EST

Filed Under: Justice League

I really liked Justice League but there's no denying that the movie was something of a mess. While enjoyable, it's clearly the product of two directors and the character that's most noticeable with is Superman. When Henry Cavill returned for Joss Whedon's reshoots, he had a moustache for Mission: Impossible 6 and Warner Bros.' attempt to remove that ended up being a complete and utter CGI fail.

As a result, it's easy to see which scenes were added and in the case of the Man of Steel, that's...well, the vast majority of them! Here, we take a look at those which were clearly the work of original director Zack Snyder and the ones Whedon clearly added with his extensive rewrites and reshoots.

We also examine what Superman's original role was going to be (hint: it may have involved a black suit) and break down the hero's scenes one by one. We have a feeling you're going to be surprised by just how much changed and what that means for both this movie and Superman's big screen future...

To view the list of details in its entirety, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!

Found Footage

Justice League kicks off with some cell phone footage featuring a couple of kids talking to Superman. This is presumably meant to make us miss the Man of Steel as we get to see the level of hope and optimism he brought to the world but you need only look at the hero's mouth to realise that this was shot by Joss Whedon. It looks horrendous here and this actually does little to serve the story.

Perhaps it was simply to remind us what the world lost when Superman died but this was clearly all Whedon and definitely not the best way to use the iconic hero in a prologue sequence of sorts.

Superman's Resurrection

It's hard to say if this method of resurrection is what Zack Snyder always had in mind for Superman but it certainly appears that way. The whole thing feels a little strange (especially the Flash and Cyborg digging up his grave) and Batman's decision to try and use a Mother Box to bring the hero back comes pretty much out of nowhere but kinda, sorta makes sense.

When Clark's corpse is taken to seemingly the same chamber where Lex Luthor made Doomsday, we don't get a decent look at him, probably because Warner Bros. didn't want to show too much of his dead body in a PG-13 film. Regardless, this whole thing leaves us with a lot of questions, including how exactly that gaping wound in Superman's chest healed so quickly!

Superman Fights The Justice League

Pretty much the entire fight between Superman and the League is clearly Snyder as Henry Cavill's mouth looks perfectly normal and it's only when he moves away from the monument that appears to change. His fights with Wonder Woman and Batman both appear to have been added by Whedon, though it is surprising that the filmmaker chose to use that "Tell me, do you bleed?" line from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After all, he was supposedly here to lighten things up!

Regardless, Superman's mouth looks almost comical at this point, something you'll know if you've seen that meme-worthy screengrab which has been circulating.

Whether Clark was always going to fly away with Lois is hard to say but something tells me that probably wasn't the original plan as you'll learn a little later in this feature.

"Tell Me, Do You Bleed?"

Going back to this moment for a second, it's hard not to wonder if this was a line which was originally going to be in Zack Snyder's script which Joss Whedon ultimately ended up using elsewhere. It feels like Snyder and is a great throwback to the fight between Batman and Superman but it could have been either one of them.

While Superman isn't in his right mind here, it still seems strange that he'd be so mad at Batman, especially when the Caped Crusader helped save Martha Kent and ultimately - and very briefly - put their differences aside to fight Doomsday. Still, the mouth says it all and all of this exchange was clearly added by Whedon.

Kent Farm

All of this was reshot. In the trailers, a very normal looking Henry Cavill asks Lois (who seems surprised to see him) if he should take the fact she's wearing the ring as a yes but there's no mention of their engagement here. Instead, the hero drops some awkward jokes after Lois miraculously restores his mind; after all, him saying that coming back from the dead was "itchy" is Whedon all over.

Clark's mouth looks off for this entire sequence and both of these scenes underwhelm. The one thing which does appear to have been shot by Snyder is when Martha Kent arrives and Superman embraces her. Where he gets his costume from after all this happens is never revealed.

Superman Joins The Team

Superman finally arrives to help the League battle Steppenwolf, and yes, this is all reshoots. From his battle with the villain to racing alongside the Flash and joking around with Cyborg about wishing he was still dead, this may be the Man of Steel we've all been waiting for but it's also quite clearly not what Snyder originally envisioned for the character.

The entire final battle feels like a hodgepodge of old shots mixed with new ones and there are a lot of moments here where Cavill's CGI mouth sticks out like a sore thumb.

In fairness to Whedon, he showed Superman saving people in an overly heroic fashion and we even got to see freeze breath on display but the Man of Steel also makes the rest of the team look somewhat incompetent as he arrives to save pretty much everyone and effortlessly take down Steppenwolf. As I said, though, this is the most Superman Cavill has felt yet.

Back To Kent Farm

This scene featuring Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne definitely appears to have been shot by Snyder as Cavill looks normal again and this would have definitely worked as an epilogue shortly after the hero returned to Kent Farm and met up with Lois (a scene I'm convinced was originally supposed to come near the end of the movie). Either way, I don't think Whedon can claim credit for this one.

Also, that scene where he tears open his shirt and flies definitely looked like it was Snyder's work as Cavill looked normal and him flying away felt very Man of Steel-ish.

Superman Races The Flash

Like that found footage at the start of Justice League, this was quite clearly added late in the game as the CGI is so horrendous. Cavill looks half human, half video game character and while this is a fan-pleasing moment that it's easy to imagine a hardcore comic book fan like Joss Whedon dreaming up, it's just a shame you'd never want to use it as your wallpaper because it looks really, really bad.

Superman's Original Role

So, what was Superman supposed to do in Justice League? We may never know but there have been rumblings that Snyder intended on keeping the Man of Steel evil pretty much from start to finish, perhaps because he would have been under the influence of one of Steppenwolf's Mother Boxes as opposed to just not being entirely sure who he is (but still remembering Batman despite that).

This clearly didn't sit well with Warner Bros., hence why that was changed and pretty much all of the character's scenes were reshot as a result. On the plus side, we got the Superman many fans have been crying out to see on the big screen for years now but Snyder's vision was obviously very different and that must have something to do with the fact Justice League was once a two-parter.

Back then, it would have been ok for Superman to break bad (and probably wear the black suit) before turning good in the sequel to fight Darkseid but that wasn't something Warner Bros. wanted.

Conclusion

So, what have we learned? Well, Joss Whedon reshot pretty much each and every single scene involving Superman, so that has to be the biggest change he made to Justice League. It's a shame that we'll never know what Snyder had planned for the character but on the plus side, it's hard not to walk out of this movie excited for Superman's future. Whether or not he has one is another matter.

What did you guys think of Superman's role in Justice League and the mix of Whedon's and Snyder's scenes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

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223 Comments

1 2 3 4 5 6

Brave - 11/20/2017, 11:03 AM

I guess it's the first day of the week?

Brave - 11/20/2017, 11:04 AM

@SuperPorg I did it!

Psychodad - 11/20/2017, 11:05 AM

That thumbnail to trigger the DC crew LMAO

Nightwing1015 - 11/20/2017, 11:07 AM

I finished Justice League yesterday. I can’t believe they actually included a Superman Shit rip! Now everyone’s got one.

Invasion96 - 11/20/2017, 11:10 AM

I have never seen one man write so many articles about one movie holy shit

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Superman's Original Role

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